Grammy & Us Sept 2006 Trip

[kimmikayb]

Here is my trip report, mostly good….some complaints. It's my first time to write a report.

Cast is me, Mom 40 yo. DD13, DS11 and my Mom, we’ll call her Grammy and not give her age.

Pre-trip. The kids didn’t know. I planned it all in April. I don’t know how I kept it a secret and it almost slipped many times. I packed for them while they were at their Dad’s house for the weekend. They thought Grammy was going on trip with a friend and we were helping her get to the airport. I spoke with all their teachers and the school. They kept it a secret too. I packed their bag for the airplane. I bought matching shirts for everyone. I made ADRs and special tours plans…all without input. It was hard for me not to share my excitement!

Day 1~9/26 We need to pick Grammy up by 4 am. We live 15 minutes from her. I estimated I could sleep until 3:15 AM. Ok, yeah whatever. I never slept. I was worried about sleeping too long and I was just too excited! So finally at 3 am I got up and showered. My DH had already put the bags in the Suburban and we were all ready. I got the kids up too. My DS decided he just didn’t want to go because he was tired. Aggg!! You’re kidding me?! I gave him a guilt trip that Grammy needed his help and he got up. Said goodbye to my DH (not sure he woke up but he told me he loved me) and drove off to Grammy’s house. I kept playing the game on the way….asking them if they would miss Grammy….wondering how her “trip” would go. When we got there, miracles do happen because Grammy was ready to go. My Dad got up too. Although we had planned to tell the kids at the airport, Dad wanted the opportunity to tell them goodbye. So I got the video camera out on the pretense of us all telling Grammy goodbye. This was Homecoming week for our school and the kids had really been looking forward to the activities. So I say to them “would you be mad if we miss homecoming?”. They shrug their shoulders and ask why. I tell them because we are flying to Disney World this morning. Well the look on their face was priceless. My DD couldn’t stop asking “really?” and my DS didn’t believe me. I said yep, Grammy is coming too. They were just so excited and it was well worth the wait. Got to the airport, no problem. Had some great help at the counter. We had concerns about Northwest flight attendants striking but luck had it we took off on time. The flight attendant was less then polite and even took my water which as most of you know, had been cleared to have the day before. She obviously didn’t want to be at her job. We arrived in Orlando early. Found ME easily. Long line but it went quick. From the time we landed until we got to All Star Music was only 45 minutes. It is always exciting to drive into Disney World’s gates but it seemed extra special because of ME and because my kids and mom were with me. They played the Disney video and helped with our carry on luggage. The kids were thrilled to walk into the doors of ASMu. I checked us in with a VERY nice CM. I’m sorry I forgot to jot down her name, because she was really great. It was only noon, but our room was ready for us. Room #432. Preferred but still far enough away from the pool noise. I was happy to see our room was newly remodeled. It was a great room. Ironing boards in every room, a curtain between the sink and bedroom. I wasn’t sure we’d need that but we really used it a lot. Very cool carpet. Only complaint? The lovebugs were horrible. In our beds, on the walls, completely covering the sidewalk. Minor problem that was not Disney’s fault.

We took a little time to freshen up, change our clothes and off to the Magic Kingdom (ok, first we went to the gift store because my mom didn’t like her shirt and that set a habit for the rest of the trip, Grammy in a gift store). Walking down Main Street with my family was priceless. We got a hot dog at Casey’s because we hadn’t ate all day, very good although the servers seemed frustrated with their job.

Guest complaint #1…..people pick up your trash after you eat. The family next to us left a huge mess. Guest complaint #2…..don’t feed the birds people!

Our first ride? POTC. Grammy's favorite and I was anxious to see the improvements. We all loved it. Of course, Grammy had to go to the gift store. Come to think of it….our walk down Main Street was the only time we didn’t see her with some kind of bag in her hand,

That afternoon the crowds were fairly light if you weren’t around the parades or the fireworks. We were able to ride Splash Mountain, Small World, Peterpan and Philharmagic before we needed to check into CRT at 6 pm. The kids were surprised we were actually eating at the castle. Then when Cinderella greeted us surprised Grammy. We got our picture taken and headed upstairs. The meal was good. Grammy and I had the crab and corn soup and prime rib. DD had shrimp and salmon. DS had salad and pork. For dessert Grammy and I had berry buckle and the kids had chocolate cake. It was all so good. The Fairy Godmother and mice came and dance and “talked” with us. The Grammy and the kids enjoyed that. CJ, our waiter was good to us and great to the kids. We gave him one of our Thank You Cast Member cards. Needless to say, as good as he was….he wasn’t the best CM we encountered.

After dinner we took Grammy to Buzz. She loved it! The kids were angry, I got 117,000 and neither of them got over 5000. We did Stitch, which the kids also like. Not mine or Grammy’s favorite. Then it was time for fireworks. We saw Wishes on the bridge. Not the best point to see it. We were fairly pooped by now. Remember everyone had been up by 3 am and I hadn’t slept. We took our time through Main Street and headed out the gates. Of course we shopped.

Bus waits weren’t horrible for ASMu. When we got back to the resort Grammy went to bed, the kids got a snack and swam. I swam too. Pool was good. Not too cold and not many people. We got to bed around midnight.

Highlights of the day:

• Surprising the kids
• Seeing the faces of my family walking down Main Street
• Watching Grammy on Buzz Lightyear
• Knowing we had a whole week ahead of us

 

[DisneyMissy318]

Great Start!

I think it would be SO cool to surprise my DD - but alas - I'm not very good at keeping secrets - especially Magical Disney Secrets!

Can't wait to hear more!

~M~

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Great start, can't wait to hear the rest. I would also like to surprise my kids, the best i've done so far is that i'm planning on surprising them for christmas, for our trip in March!

 

[pumba]

this is so exciting .......I think keeping it a secret all this time was unbelievable......we are sort of keeping our trip a secret too.because my mother and hubbies mother will complain......oh well
Your trip report has me in the mood.....
thanks again

 

[kimmikayb]

Oh, if you can pull off the surprise....do it. It really was a great part of the magic!

Day 2 9/27 MGM. Oh I know this isn’t everyone’s favorite park but being the community theatre star that I am *wink* I love it. Today is DS bday. We also decide to snag Grammy a wheel chair because the day before really got to her back and leg and we don’t want her to be in pain. She fights it a little and is grateful for the ride. We first encounter two gals coming from backstage who see DS’s bday button. I can’t remember there names but they make a big deal out of DS’s bday and want to “compose” a song for him. They “interview” him and ask him all kinds of questions and learn he plays football and races go carts and likes Nascar, etc. They then proceed to warm up their voices to do his bday song. It went something like this “This is your bday song, it isn’t very long” Ta da! He really got a kick out of that. My DD was able to walk down the “red carpet” and my DS again was the center of attention during another “skit”.

We took Grammy to the Great Movie Ride which was one of her favorites. We then toured Narnia. I liked it and I thought the White Witch was great. The best part was just walking in. We did One Man’s Dream which I had missed with my little ones in Feb., and I really liked that.

We had ADRs at Prime Time Café at noon and we were not disappointed here! Brother Michael was our waiter and he made this dinner so much fun for the kids (Grammy and I too). The vegetable was cooked greens of some kind and I wouldn’t eat mine. He asked me why, I said I was full. He asked if I was ordering dessert, I said of course. He came out with my greens topped with whipped cream and sprinkles! Yuck and I ate a bite. Double yuck! He got the entire place to sign a bday card for DS. He even tried to “hook up” my DS11 with the next table’s DD7!! ROFL!!!!!!!!!!! My goodness, I think we were there for almost 2 hours and just had the time of our life.

Next, we did the backlot tour, Little Mermaid, ToT and RnR. After getting off RnR, the cast members were jumping up and down with excitement asking if we had a good time, did we love it?! We said we sure did so they said “want to ride again???” Ok, my tummy was rolling now so I said no, but my son went to the front of the line and rode again. Very cool!

By now it is nearly 8 pm so we decide to go ahead and sit down for Fantasmic. We were some of the first guests and we were able to get middle of the stage seats. Just an awesome place to watch. I, being the gathering of snacks, took off to get everyone what they wanted. Meanwhile my kids have eyed those “string things” and when I get back and $32 later they both got one and had a blast with them. THEN Grammy had to have one too! The show, was unbelievable! I’ve seen it before but every time I am thrilled. It was the first time for Grammy and she loved it. The arena was packed. I’m so glad we went in early. We took our time getting out, let the crowds thin. We were lucky enough to sit next to a family from England who were very friendly. Actually, we met lots of people from UK who were fantastic!

We shopped a little, crowds thinned out even more and we headed back to our room. A great, great day!